Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

May was musicals month in Berowra and I was delighted to see two extremely high quality community theatre productions. I attended the Dural Musical Society's entertaining production of Oliver! The Dural Musical Society has been entertaining local audiences since 1972. It welcomes members from eight years old and up and prides itself on its professionalism and its values of fun and creativity, and the society produces two shows a year at the Dural Memorial Hall. Oliver! brings to life the characters of Charles Dickens and encourages the audience to consider poverty, parentage and other social conditions common in Victorian England. With memorable Lionel Bart songs like Oliver, Oliver, Where is Love?, Food, Glorious Food, Oom-Pah-Pah and the Polka inspired Reviewing the Situation, it is one of the most popular musicals of all time.

The production was brought to life by Director Julian Floriano, Musical Director Hugh Humphreys, Choreographer Chrissy O'Neill, Assistant Director Laura Murdocca and Assistant Musical Director Stephanie Quaglia. The night I saw Oliver! it contained excellent performances by Elliot Sullivan in the title role, Isaac Koorey as the Artful Dodger—indeed, a number of Isaac's brothers were in the cast—Sarah Aylen as Nancy and the inimitable DMS president, Eddie Bruce, as Fagan, always looking to pick a pocket or two. Indeed, the production picked a pocket or two for a very good charity, The Sanctuary, which is designed to prevent violence against women.

The second production I saw was the outstanding production of HMS Pinafore by the Berowra Musical Society. It was directed by Andrew Cousins and Musical Director Sally Cousins, with an extraordinary 28-piece orchestra in a local community theatre. Choreographed by Jessica Edward, the production starred Rhiannon Winchester, Aleks Justin, Paul Thomson, Amy Lewis, Matthew Seidl, Louise Longhurst and Christopher Butt. The Berowra Musical Society was formed in 1986. It produces two shows a year and a children's pantomime. Each production requires the efforts of up to 100 people, including cast, orchestra, backstage crew, front-of-house crew, set construction crew and costume crew.

One of the profiles that was written of me at the time of my maiden speech was that I was a Gilbert and Sullivan tragic, and I suppose I should own that. One thing about Gilbert and Sullivan that is important to me is that it reflects on British tradition, its society, its humour and its freedom. Pinafore is fundamentally a satire about the British government's management of the Royal Navy and the class system. When you think about the Royal Navy in Victorian England, it was the most important institution of Britain. It was the dominant navy in the world. It was the tool that allowed Britain to keep its empire. Britannia ruled the waves. Yet there was this hugely popular satire of it, making light of the leadership, the governance and the political class surrounding the navy. That says something about British humour, but it also says something about the freedom of Englishmen and the freedom of Australians too.

Each of these musical societies brings our community together. In a world where our lives have become increasingly stressful and demanding, it is wonderful to see that community theatre is alive and well in my electorate.